Two new bromoindoles from red alga Laurencia similis

Two new bromoindole alkaloids have been isolated from the ethanolic extract of the red alga Laurencia similis. On the basis of chemical and spectroscopic methods (including 1D and 2D NMR technique), their structures have been elucidated as 2,2',5,5',6,6'-sixibromo-3, 3'-bi-1H-indole and 3, 5-dibromo-1-methylindole, respectively. (C) 2008 Xiao Bin Zhu. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Synthesized different derivatives of low molecular fucoidan extracted from Laminaria japonica and their potential antioxidant activity in vitro

Six low molecular fucoidan (DFPS) derivatives were synthesized successfully, and their potential antioxidant activities were investigated employing various established in vitro systems. All DFPS derivatives possessed considerable antioxidant activity, and had stronger antioxidant ability than DFPS in certain tests. The benzoylated DFPS (PHDF) showed strongest scavenging activity on superoxide, hydroxyl and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, however, DFPS exhibited greatest reducing power. Available data suggested that substituted groups of DFPS played an important role on antioxidant activity, and the mechanism on influence the antioxidant activity of samples of substituted group was indicated. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the monosaccharide composition of fucoidan by precolumn derivation HPLC

We developed an HPLC method for analysis of the monosaccharide composition of fucoidans. The fucoidan was hydrolyzed into monosaccharides with 2 mol/L trifluoroacetic acid. Using ribose as the internal standard, the monosaccharide derivatives, obtained with 1-Phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP), were separated by reverse-phase HPLC using a gradient elution process, and monitored by ultraviolet detection at 245 nm. In the concentration range of 0.1-2.0 mmol/L, the peak area of each monosaccharide had a good linear relationship with its concentration (r(2)> 0.998). The average recoveries of mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, glucose, galactose, xylose, and fucose were 86.2%, 95.1%, 62.5%, 102.0%, 94.8%, 66.6%, and 105.1%, respectively. This method was accurate and had good reproducibility and could be used to determine the monosaccharide contents of fucoidans.

In vitro antioxidant activities of acetylated, phosphorylated and benzoylated derivatives of porphyran extracted from Porphyra haitanensis

Porphyran extracted from red algae Porphyra haitanensis is a sulfated polysaccharide, which possesses excellent antioxidant activities. In this study, we prepared the acetylated, phosphorylated and benzoylated derivatives of porphyran. And then the antioxidant activities of all the samples were investigated including scavenging effects of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and reducing power. The results of chemical analysis and FT-IR spectrum showed the modifications of porphyran were successful. And in addition, we found that certain derivative exhibited stronger antioxidant activity than raw material. And the mechanism of the structure-function relationship of these derivatives needs to be attended to. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Total synthesis of bis-(2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-methane as potent PTP1B inhibitor

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) plays an important role as a negative regulator and has been proved to be an effective target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Bis-(2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-methane 7 was first reported as a natural bromophenol with significant inhibition against PTP1B which was isolated from red algae Rhodomela confervoides. Intrigued by its astonishing activity (IC50 = 2.4 mu mol/L), compound 7 was synthesized with the overall yield of 24% and evaluated for its PTP1B inhibitory activity compared with natural compound. (C) 2008 Li Jun Han. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Inhibition of bromophenols against PTP1B and anti-hyperglycemic effect of Rhodomela confervoides extract in diabetic rats

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) plays an important role as a negative regulator in insulin signaling pathways. PTP1B is an effective target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Four bromophenol derivatives from red algae Rhodomela confervoides, 2,2',3,3'-tetrabromo-4,4',5,5'-tetra-hydroxydiphenyl methane (1), 3-bormo-4,5-bis(2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzyl) pyrocatechol (2), bis(2,3-dibromo-4,5-dihydroxybenzyl) ether (3) and 2,2',3-tribromo-3',4,4',5-tetrahydroxy-6'-ethyloxy-methyldiphenylmethane (4) showed significant inhibitory activity against PTP1B (IC50 were 2.4, 1.7, 1.5 and 0.84 mu mol/L, respectively) as potential therapeutical agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The anti-hyperglycemic effects of the ethanol extracts from R. confervoides on streptozotocin-induced diabetes (STZ-diabetes) in male Wistar rats fed with high fat diet were investigated. The STZ-diabetic rats treated with medium-dose and high-dose alga extracts showed remarkable reductions in fasting blood glucose (FBG) as compared with the STZ-diabetic control. The results indicate that the in vivo anti-hyperglycemic activity of the R. confervoides extracts can be partially attributed to the inhibitory actions against PTP1B of the bromophenol derivatives and that may be of clinical importance in improving the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Enhancement of atmospheric pressure chemical ionization for the determination of free and glycine-conjugated bile acids in human serum

A highly sensitive and accurate method based on the precolumn derivatization of bile acids (BA) with a high ionization efficiency labeling reagent 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl-benzenesulfonate (BDEBS) coupled with LC/MS has been developed. After derivatization, BA molecules introduced a weak basic nitrogen atom into the molecular core structure that was readily ionized in commonly used acidic HPLC mobile phases. Derivatives were sufficiently stable to be efficiently analyzed by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)-MS/MS in positive-ion mode. The MS/MS spectra of BA derivatives showed an intense protonated molecular ion at m/z [M + H](+). The collision-induced dissociation of the molecular ion produced fragment ions at [MH - H2O](+), [MH - 2H(2)O](+), [MH - 3H(2)O](+). The characteristic fragment ions were at m/z 320.8, 262.8, and 243.7 corresponding to a cleavage of N - CO, O - CO, and C - OCC, respectively, and bonds of derivatized molecules. The selected reaction monitoring, based on the m/z [M + H]+ -> [MH - H2O](+), [MH - H2O](+), [MH - 2H(2)O](+), [MH-3H(2)O](+), 320.8, 262.8, and 243.7 transitions, was highly specific for the BA derivatives. The LODs for APCI in a positive-ion mode, at an S/N of 5, were 44.36-153.6 fmol. The validation results showed high accuracy in the range of 93-107% and the mean interday precision for all standards was < 15% at broad linear dynamic ranges (0.0244-25nmol/mL). Good linear responses were observed with coefficients of > 0.9935 in APCI/MS detection. Therefore, the facile BDEBS derivatization coupled with mass spectrometric analysis allowed the development of a highly sensitive and specific method for the quantitation of trace levels of the free and glycine-conjugated BA from human serum samples.

Development of a sensitive fluorescent derivatization reagent 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl chloroformate (BCEOC) and its application for determination of amino acids from seeds and bryophyte plants using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and identification with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A pre-column derivatization method for the sensitive determination of amino acids and peptides using the tagging reagent 1,2-benzo-3,4dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl chloroformate (BCEOC) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection has been developed. Identification of derivatives was carried out by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). The chromophore of 2-(9-carbazole)-ethyl chloroformate (CEOC) reagent was replaced by 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole functional group, which resulted in a sensitive fluorescence derivatizing reagent BCEOC. BCEOC can easily and quickly label peptides and amino acids. Derivatives are stable enough to be efficiently analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The derivatives showed an intense protonated molecular ion corresponding m/z (M + H)(+) under electrospray ionization (ESI) positive-ion mode with an exception being Tyr detected at negative mode. The collision-induced dissociation of protonated molecular ion formed a product at m/z 246.2 corresponding to the cleavage of C-O bond of BCEOC molecule. Studies on derivatization demonstrate excellent derivative yields over the pH 9.0-10.0. Maximal yields close to 100% are observed with a 3-4-fold molar reagent excess. Derivatives exhibit strong fluorescence and extracted detzvatization solution with n-hexane/ethyl acetate (10:1, v/v) allows for the direct injection with no significant interference from the major fluorescent reagent degradation by-products, such as 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethanol (BDC-OH) (a major by-product), mono- 1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl carbonate (BCEOC-OH) and bis-(1,2-benzo-3,4-dihydrocarbazole-9-ethyl) carbonate (BCEOC)(2). In addition, the detection responses for BCEOC derivatives are compared to those obtained with previously synthesized 2-(9-carbazole)-ethyl chloroformate (CEOC) in our laboratory. The ratios AC(BCEOC)/AC(CEOC) = 2.05-6.51 for fluorescence responses are observed (here, AC is relative fluorescence response). Separation of the derivatized peptides and amino acids had been optimized on Hypersil BDS C-18 column. Detection limits were calculated from 1.0 pmol injection at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, and were 6.3 (Lys)-177.6 (His) fmol. The mean interday accuracy ranged from 92 to 106% for fluorescence detection with mean %CV < 7.5. The mean interday precision for all standards was < 10% of the expected concentration. Excellent linear responses were observed with coefficients of > 0.9999. Good compositional data could be obtained from the analysis of derivatized protein hydrolysates containing as little as 50.5 ng of sample. Therefore, the facile BCEOC derivatization coupled with mass spectrometry allowed the development of a highly sensitive and specific method for the quantitative analysis of trace levels of amino acids and peptides from biological and natural environmental samples. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

HMLH1 gene mutation in gastric cancer patients and their kindred

AIM: To study the status of hMLH1 gene point mutations of gastric cancer kindreds and gastric cancer patients from northern China, and to find out gene mutation status in the population susceptible to gastric cancer.